Post by janetcatbird on Nov 10, 2006 20:47:20 GMT -5
I'm one of the few people who read her books at the target age (I got Catherine, Called Birdy at the fourth grade book fair), but they really are quite good. And if anybody has daughters/nieces/neighbor children who would like them, well, I can highly reccomend it. CUshman deals with historical fiction, usually the sort of coming-of-age, finding-who-you-are for young girls in the preteens/early teen years, so that's obviously going to resonate with girls from that age. She does careful research so that the stories are accurate, and always has an afterword with notes and reccomended reading.
Catherine, Called Birdy Her first, book, and still my favorite (as seen in my screenname!). Catherine is a 14-year old girl in England in the 1290s, the book is basically a year's diary with bits about daily life, the saints days celebrations, her family. The overarching plot is thhe thought of marriage--her father is trying to bundle her off to any rich guy who comes along, and she's trying to foil the system. Great humor in the book, I love it.
The Midwife's Apprentice Came just a bit after Catherine, this one actually won the Newberry Medal. A little more melancholy than the first one, but still the medieval setting. A homeless girl with no family winds up on the doorstep of a village midwife and becomes her assistant. Finding her place in the world and trying to cope with different aspects of life.
The Ballad of Lucy Whipple California gold rush in 1849; after her father dies her mother packs up the kids and moves west. Lucy is not happy about it. This one is back in the first person and has more of the humor from Catherine that Midwife left out. Told in the first person, also good.
Matilda Bone Back to the Middle Ages. Very similar to the Midwife, in that the girl serves as an assistant to the local healer. However, it's in the city so there are a lot of different people to interact with, and she actually has memories of a home and family. Mainly Matilda is trying to reconcile the ultra-strict religion of the priest who raised her with the everyday life of regular people: what's a sin, what's practical, etc. Kind of thin, it could be seen as just rehashing her earlier works but it's not a bad story.
Rodzina The orphan trains of the 1880s, Rodzina is the last surviving member of her family and is shipped out west with other children so that someone will adopt them. Most of the book takes place on the train, Rodzina grieving for her family and not wanting to get dragged into stuff with the other kids but making friends in spite of herself. Not her strongest, but an interesting situation, and she does take efforts to show what the children went through.
There, just putting that up for anybody interested. Enjoy!
--Catbird
Catherine, Called Birdy Her first, book, and still my favorite (as seen in my screenname!). Catherine is a 14-year old girl in England in the 1290s, the book is basically a year's diary with bits about daily life, the saints days celebrations, her family. The overarching plot is thhe thought of marriage--her father is trying to bundle her off to any rich guy who comes along, and she's trying to foil the system. Great humor in the book, I love it.
The Midwife's Apprentice Came just a bit after Catherine, this one actually won the Newberry Medal. A little more melancholy than the first one, but still the medieval setting. A homeless girl with no family winds up on the doorstep of a village midwife and becomes her assistant. Finding her place in the world and trying to cope with different aspects of life.
The Ballad of Lucy Whipple California gold rush in 1849; after her father dies her mother packs up the kids and moves west. Lucy is not happy about it. This one is back in the first person and has more of the humor from Catherine that Midwife left out. Told in the first person, also good.
Matilda Bone Back to the Middle Ages. Very similar to the Midwife, in that the girl serves as an assistant to the local healer. However, it's in the city so there are a lot of different people to interact with, and she actually has memories of a home and family. Mainly Matilda is trying to reconcile the ultra-strict religion of the priest who raised her with the everyday life of regular people: what's a sin, what's practical, etc. Kind of thin, it could be seen as just rehashing her earlier works but it's not a bad story.
Rodzina The orphan trains of the 1880s, Rodzina is the last surviving member of her family and is shipped out west with other children so that someone will adopt them. Most of the book takes place on the train, Rodzina grieving for her family and not wanting to get dragged into stuff with the other kids but making friends in spite of herself. Not her strongest, but an interesting situation, and she does take efforts to show what the children went through.
There, just putting that up for anybody interested. Enjoy!
--Catbird